West Ham United have been told they can have a new king of Lyon after a very clever Tim Steidten call for a top young star.
When you take over a team that conceded the most goals in its Premier League history, it’s obvious you’re going to have to make changes.
That is the situation Julen Lopetegui has walked into at West Ham, who shipped a whopping 74 Premier League goals last season.
The Spaniard is a more attack-minded manager than David Moyes.
That’s evident by the first capture the club has made for him in the shape of Brazilian teenager Luis Guilherme.
But Lopetegui used to be a goalkeeper and very much ensures his teams build from a solid defensive base.
West Ham’s new 57-year-old manager has already made his mind up about several defensive players.
He gave the green light to a new one-year deal for Aaron Cresswell – who he tried to sign while Wolves boss.
Angelo Ogbonna has not been retained and Lopetegui has decided he wants to sell captain Kurt Zouma too.
Lopetegui ripping up West Ham’s porous defence
Nayef Aguerd is also for sale and wants out of the London Stadium.
That would leave only Konstantinos Mavropanos given Thilo Kehrer completed a permanent move to Monaco.
So it’s understandable that West Ham are on the hunt for at least two new centre-backs this summer.
The Hammers have been linked with plenty of them too.
Lopetegui wants to sign Max Kilman from Wolves.
West Ham have also been linked with centre-backs in Serie A, Brazil and another towering Ligue 1 star who almost joined the Hammers in January.
The man leading the club’s recruitment, technical director Tim Steidten, has pledged to revamp West Ham into a team of young, exciting players.
To that end, after selling Said Benrahma, Steidten concocted a genius plan – as reported on Hammers News earlier this month.
West Ham told they can have a new king of Lyon
That being to use the fact Lyon now owe West Ham £12.5m to negotiate a deal for their brilliant young Irish centre-half Jake O’Brien.
Journalist Alan Nixon claimed the chance to move to Hammers and start in the Premier League could be too good to refuse for 23-year-old O’Brien.
Well there’s been a development and it looks like good news for the Hammers.
West Ham have been told they can have a new king of Lyon after the clever Steidten call.
If West Ham are being brutally honest with themselves they have never replaced their King of Lyon Craig Dawson.
He left to join Lopetegui at Wolves in January last year for family reasons. And West Ham’s defence simply hasn’t been the same since.
But now they could get a new king of Lyon, quite literally.
Lyon preparing to sell Hammers target O’Brien
The Athletic’s Adam Leventhal has claimed that Lyon are now preparing to listen offers for O’Brien.
“Lyon are preparing to listen to offers for central defender Jake O’Brien,” the report states.
“French side Lyon don’t want to sell and have not set an asking price, but they are aware that the Republic of Ireland international features highly on the lists of clubs in the Premier League and elsewhere in Europe.”
This is where West Ham can really use the Benrahma situation to their advantage.
Lyon are working under financial constraints and cut their cloth when it comes to spending.
The Hammers could strike a deal where Lyon do not have to physically part with the £12.3m for Benrahma.
Instead West Ham can roll that into a sensible fee for O’Brien, who can you learn all about in the video below.